And a good time was had by all at Bat for Lashes' show

By ROSS SIMONINI, SPECIAL TO THE P-I

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, October 15, 2007

The all-woman British quartet Bat for Lashes took the Crocodile Cafe stage like a Renaissance fair. Bedecked in princess gowns, silvery headbands and thick Cleopatra makeup, the girls looked as if they had bathed in golden glitter. Pastoral tapestries hung behind them. A wizard's staff leaned in the corner.

With only a violin, viola, flute and glockenspiel to support lead singer-songwriter Natasha Khan's voice, the band opened its set of eccentric pop with the sort of confident professionalism that seemed out of place in such a small rock venue. Though every girl was as copiously talented as the next, Khan was the clear celebrity, with every moment of in-between-song silence punctuated by a holler of "We love you, Natasha!" She exuded the comfortable, warm stage presence of a modest diva.

"This is the first time I've ever played a tennis court," Khan said, referring to The Crocodile's choice of running a bright orange construction net up the middle of the room, to delineate underagers from imbibers. At one point, she had an obliging young girl serve as her tambourine stand, passing the instrument back and forth as she needed it.

Prerecorded backing tracks pervaded most of the music, but the band demonstrated a tremendous skill on an eclectic set of instruments (harmonium, autoharp, wind chimes, etc.) that would put most rock bands to shame. Throughout the night, every woman took a turn singing and beating on drums with glowing mallets.

Despite Khan's protests, such as, "There's definitely a creature in my throat tonight," her voice seemed to have grown richer and stronger since the band released its debut, "Fur and Gold," late last year. Like many new female vocalists, Khan's melodies pay direct tribute to the great triumvirate of '90s frontwomen: PJ Harvey, Bjork and Tori Amos. For all of Bat for Lash's instrumental innovation and creativity, the night never fully escaped the feeling of homage.

The well-deserved encore came in the form of the psychedelic pop song "Prescilla," which, despite the band's new arrival to the music scene, inspired a massive hooting of recognition and singalong treatment. If the rest of the show hadn't done it already, that song would earn a room full of believers.